Like the Plague
by dooder's nin
Summary: After unintentionally scaring Arthur with one of his stunts, Alfred winds up getting seriously frightened and emotionally hurt when Arthur decides to retaliate with what he knows will affect the American personification. Alfred strikes back with a prank of his own that doesn't have the desired effect and now has to deal with the rest of the conference avoiding him like the plague.


Everyone was returning to their seats in the meeting room slowly, the usual small talk and reluctance to reenter the company of certain others making this a relatively slow process despite the usual efforts of a certain German to move things along in an efficient and timely manner. Arthur was already in his seat, finishing up the cup of tea he'd gotten at a nearby tea house that he'd found to his delight to be void of any other personifications at the time. He was in a good mood too, since he'd had a quick encounter with a unicorn that was roaming nearby, always finding himself to be more at ease after such an occurrence and able to deal with a particularly annoying Frenchman. Then again, this really only meant that he was able to stave off the impending blowup between the two for a little longer and both knew it, Francis especially since he did try even harder to use the added time to proclaim the merits of French things over British things. Arthur was currently trying to ignore a very blatant attempt to get some reaction from him by Francis when he noticed that almost everybody had returned.

"Oh very well…" Francis said as he took his seat with a sigh, "If you do not want to have a pleasant conversation with me, I suppose I should ask if you know where America has lost himself." He said, Arthur rolling his eyes. They were on Francis' lands this time and the Frenchman had made sure to remind the British man of that any chance he could while the conference was ongoing.

"Why do you presume to think I should know what the idiot has gone and done with himself now?" Arthur asked, finally looking up from his notes to address Francis. The Frenchman shrugged but the smirk on his face said that there was more to his presumption than just habit.

"You did get into quite an animated discussion earlier. And I know how you feel the need to, ahem, monitor things from time to time. I assumed this time would be no different." Francis said as he took his seat. Arthur glared at him, not amused at the accusation that he would outright spy on the other, no matter how accurate that may be between the British and the American personifications.

"Yes, well, I made an effort to keep clear of him while I got some proper tea. Lord knows that boy wouldn't dare follow me in there if he could help it." Arthur said, Francis rolling his eyes at that remark. "But I really have no idea where he might have gone off to. He probably is circling back around from his quest to find a McDonalds in this city and should be here to interrupt our quiet sooner than we might like." Arthur said, taking another sip of his drink from the takeout cup.

"What did you fight over this time?" China asked as he passed by them, hearing the tail end of their conversation. He normally didn't put much effort into trying to follow the ridiculous arguments that had no value to him, but the American's voice did carry and he couldn't help but watch with exasperation as he and Arthur shouted at one another.

"Oh, just another completely absurd notion of his that he apparently thought I'd wholeheartedly embrace despite it not being in my best interest – or anyone's if I recall the limited specifics of the plan. To be honest….I think I may have forgotten what exactly set me off this time." Arthur admitted with a far off look as he tried to recall what had caused him to lash out this time. Francis snorted from where he was seated, Arthur's focus drawn back into the present.

"It doesn't take much, does it Angleterre? You should have some wine to loosen up a bit." Francis said, Arthur refusing to respond to that deliberate attempt to irritate him.

"Didn't you, like, tell him something about jumping off a bridge?" Feliks asked, standing over by the window and peering out through the blinds. Arthur looked up curiously at the other man, the Polish personification not usually jumping into conversation like that unless it had something to do with his unique interests or if he'd felt one of the others had said something out of line regarding Lithuania.

"No, I said his idea was the _equivalent_ of jumping off a bridge for all its productivity. Why?" Arthur asked, the Polish man turning to look at him.

"Well, there's totally some sort of commotion going on over there. There's like, a huge crowd and everything." Feliks said, Arthur getting up from his seat to look out the window. Sure enough, there was a crowd gathered nearby looking up at something on the bridge. On further inspection, he saw that there was actually a _someone_ on the bridge.

"Bloody hell." Arthur mumbled as he looked out the window, Francis and Yao coming up behind him to take a look as well while other personifications looked out the remaining windows.

"He wouldn't, like, think you were seriously suggesting it, would he? That's totally crazy!" Feliks said, scooting away from the others to make room so that Toris could take a look out the window.

"I am not thinking he thought that far ahead." Ivan said as he looked out the window as well. He chuckled a little, not moving from where he stood to watch the other do something else particularly stupid.

"I did not think America was suicidal though." Germany said as he watched in confusion as America seemed to walk back and forth from his perch on top of the bridge, bending down occasionally in what he thought were moments of reason coming through and that Alfred was climbing back down.

"No, but he _is_ an idiot. If he jumps, I'm going to kill him!" Arthur said, dashing out of the room to race toward the bridge, pushing himself to go as fast as he could. Francis and the others watched as Arthur reached the crowd, pushing others aside as he tried to move to the front. He stopped as he stood underneath where Alfred stood, apparently calling up to his brother to try and talk some sense into him. Alfred paused in his movements, apparently calling back down to Arthur with a short wave.

"Open up the window, I'm sure we will be able to hear at least America." Francis said, Feliks doing as he asked, getting it open enough to lean out a little. As he suspected, they could hear an irritated-sounding voice that clearly had a note of fear in it as he berated Alfred for being reckless again.

"Alfred, get your fat ass down here, this instant! What the hell do you think you're doing?!" Arthur called up as Alfred returned to whatever it was that the others couldn't see from where they were watching.

"I'm doin' what you said. I thought you'd be happy." Alfred called back down as he shuffled back over to the area where he'd clearly climbed up from to get to the top, this way he and Arthur must've been able to speak to one another face-to-face. "Sheesh, never can please you. But this is a great idea." He said, Arthur beginning to climb up to reach Alfred.

"What? Alfred, stop! Come back down and return to the meeting. The others are waiting for you." Arthur said, slowly climbing up and trying to reason with the American man. The personifications gasped when it seemed like Alfred once again was about to jump as he got closer to the edge, the crowd mimicking their response. "Alfred, just wait! I'm almost there lad. Just wait!" Arthur called out.

Feliks at this point was holding tightly to Toris in a manner like Feliciano was doing with Ludwig, the German man telling him to let go of him in case they needed to rush out. Arthur was almost to the top when he called out again for Alfred to wait.

"Nope…" Alfred said, backing up from the edge and bouncing a little, the others recognizing that the man was getting a running start. "See ya Iggy!" Alfred shouted louder as he took off, Arthur calling out to him again while several in the crowd screamed. Alfred shouted out a 'yeehaw!' as he left the bridge, dropping past Arthur as the British man clung to the metal ladder.

"Oh, that is what he was doing." Ivan said, the first to notice the cord wrapped around Alfred's foot as the American launched himself off the bridge. Francis leaned more out the window, breathing a sigh of relief as the American man bounced back up from touching the water as the bungee cord tossed him back up in the air. Alfred shouted gleefully a few more times, the crowd relaxing and eventually cheering for the other man as he began to swing a little over the water as the bouncing stopped. They watched as Alfred reached up to unclip the cord from around him, tumbling in to the water with a large splash before he resurfaced with a cheer and began to swim for the shore.

"Alfred!" Arthur called out, this time clearly beyond annoyed as he sat at the top of the ladder. The others saw that he was about to head back down before it appeared as though another person just materialized on the bridge next to Arthur, looking remarkably like Alfred and was trying to calm the British man down.

Francis pulled himself back inside with a laugh. "Alright everyone. I do believe the show is over for now. At least until Angleterre reunites with our dear American friend." He said, dissolving into laughter once again. The others mumbled to themselves as they continued to linger by the window, watching as Arthur and the other man climbed down with the bungee cord that Alfred had used while the cause of all the chaos was climbing out of the river and attempting to shake the water out of his hair. But at another call from Ludwig, they returned to their seats and attempted to resume some sort of a professional atmosphere while they waited for the three men to return to the meeting room.

"Of all the stupid things you could do…" Arthur was saying as he slammed the doors open, announcing his arrival and that of the American man he was dragging in by his hair, cowlick firmly held between the British man's fingers.

"You're the one who told me to do it!" Alfred said as he was sat back in his seat, clothes still soaking wet. "I don't know why you're overreacting. Canada was with me the whole time." He said, the others finally recognizing the other North American who had timidly followed Arthur into the room.

"Yes, and I'm talking with _him_ later. But I'm talking to _you_ now. What the hell were you thinking scaring everybody like that?!" Arthur asked, finally releasing Alfred's hair from his tight grip, the younger personification rubbing his head from where his scalp was irritated.

"I told you! You told me to jump off a bridge and that'll…" Alfred was saying, Arthur practically shaking in his fury at the other's actions.

"When people tell someone to go jump off a bridge, most people realize they're not actually being literal! How on earth did you think this would be a good idea?" Arthur asked, looming over the other personification in a way that had Alfred been able to read the atmosphere better, would have had him slinking back in his chair more than he already was.

"What? But you said my idea about raising awareness for what this meeting was about was ridiculous and wouldn't work. So you told me that it would be more productive if I jumped off a bridge. So I did and you were right." Alfred said, Arthur leaning back in complete shock at the reasoning behind Alfred's actions. "I bet the meeting is all over the news here and at your place and back home. I told them the cause I was jumping for and I think they understood. Lots of people here know English, but they just pretend they don't – like China when he's….ow, stop hitting me!" Alfred said as he turned back from where he was looking over at China to confront the man who'd roughly cuffed him on the back of the head.

"You are such an idiot." Arthur said, shaking his head and returning to his seat, angrily pushing in his chair to sit ramrod straight and straighten out his papers. He took a sip of his tea and refused to look up while Alfred grumbled about having his hair pulled. Looking back up, Arthur noticed the others staring at him. Clearing his throat he leveled a stern look at the other personifications. "Well? Are we all ready to resume our meeting? Yes? Then let's get to it. France was speaking last so off you go." He said, turning to Francis and effectively cutting off any questions the others would have likely shot at the American personification who was looking very much like a scolded child who couldn't figure out what he'd done wrong. Matthew patted him on the shoulder comfortingly and they all resumed their meeting as best they could, the time seeming to move more slowly than usual with the desire to talk about what had just happened and to see if Alfred was right.

Sure enough, and much to Arthur's displeasure, Alfred's stunt was on all the news networks as was the cause he was talking about before he jumped. And so were Arthur's efforts to get him off the bridge being broadcasted, the British man feeling his face heat up as he watched himself in obvious fear for the safety of his former colony. He had shaken his head and headed to bed early after that, resolved to do something that would equally humiliate the American man who didn't even know that he'd embarrassed Arthur so badly.

* * *

At the next conference a month later, Francis was yet again trying to get Arthur to talk to him about what had happened since the other man had pretty much steered clear of that topic. He was therefore surprised when Arthur made no such attempt to control the direction the conversation was headed and let Francis repeat his earlier remarks.

"So how is Mathieu? I do hope you didn't scare the boy too badly since it was, after all, _him_ who made sure Alfred actually secured the bungee cord properly and supervised his jump." Francis said, munching on a croissant before the meeting resumed. They were in Spain this time and the heat was clearly getting to Arthur, although the other man seemed oddly fine with the typical discomfort being in southern Spain caused him.

"Matthew is just fine. Although he didn't take my calls for a couple of weeks after the lecture I'd given him. If only Alfred could have given me the same amount of peace and quiet." Arthur said with a sigh as he rubbed his forehead of the sweat that the broken air conditioner allowed for them all to have to deal with this meeting. But the smirk Arthur then sent to Francis had the other man wary from experience with the other personification over the years, wondering what the other had planned. "But, America might decide to actually not say much later…." He said, the Frenchman pursing his lips and shaking his head.

Almost on cue, a very unmanly and frightened scream echoed throughout the room. Arthur smugly sat back in his seat, crossing his arms over his chest. But the loud smashing of glass and then a rather large thud had them all sighing and getting up to see what had happened. As Arthur seemed to know immediately what had happened, Francis followed the other man toward the bathroom, the two of them stopping as it seemed like water was flooding from out of the bathroom.

"Well done mon cher." Francis sarcastically said, Arthur rolling his eyes before pushing open the door. The lights were off as he'd expected, having spent the better part of the morning making sure everything was just right and persuading employees to keep the room empty unless a certain American needed to use the room. Flicking on the lights, the two saw that Alfred was sitting on the floor, shaking and holding his head. The mirror was smashed to bits and the wall behind it was cracked from the force of Alfred's punch. The faucet was still running and was leaking, but that apparently was all that was needed for the stronger personification to slip in his terror at the image of a ghost that Arthur had summoned into that mirror. The stall behind him was mangled and the toilet seat appeared snapped from where Alfred looked to have flailed out in terror at being in the dark with a scary-looking 'ghost', water spurting from the broken pipes.

"Oh, come with me, mon petit." Francis cooed to Alfred, the other man jumping back with wide eyes and balled fists that had Francis wisely keeping back in case he decided to swing again. Arthur couldn't help but snicker at the sight, several other personifications also peering into the room as they too followed the trail of water. Antonio sighed at the mess the American had left for him, while many others also humorously laughed at the sight of a soaked and scared senseless Alfred.

"The hero has conquered the bathroom. Well done Amerika." Ivan teased, Alfred just realizing the others were staring and laughing at him and glared at the tall Russian. But his eyes looked watery and Francis pulled him to his feet, walking him past a Britain who was clinging to the walls to keep upright as he laughed so hard at the result of his retaliatory prank. Britain's laughs tapered off and he wiped the tears from his eyes as he returned to the meeting room, far fewer personifications returning to yet another distraction from their agendas thanks to the actions of America.

"Arthur…" Matthew whispered to him at the end of the meeting, Francis and Alfred not appearing for the second half except for Francis to return to collect his and Alfred's things and shoot a disappointed look to Arthur. The British man had expected some other reaction, possibly for Francis to chuckle along with him a few times, but not for the other to judge him like that. He had rolled his eyes and returned to the meeting as Francis had slipped out again but the look had remained in his mind as he contemplated why Francis would react that way. But the Canadian's whisper to him drew his attention away from his unconscious behavior of packing things away methodically at the end of the meeting.

"Yes Matthew?" Arthur said, pausing in his motions to look directly at the Canadian. Matthew looked upset too, and Arthur began to feel a little guilty.

"You know Alfred didn't mean to make you feel worried or scared or embarrassed or anything like that when he did what he did at the last meeting, right?" Matthew asked, his bear held tightly to him as he stood in front of his older brother.

"I suppose. That doesn't mean that he didn't deserve a little reminder that not everyone appreciates his lack of forethought." Arthur said, returning to packing up the last of his papers.

"I know. But…he sort of apologized. Maybe, it wouldn't hurt if you talked to him later." Matthew said, before seeming to remember something. "Oh, but not right now. You might want to wait a little for his anger to wane enough that he doesn't just come at you swinging like he did with some of the other personifications when they'd pulled a sneak attack on him." He said, Arthur's eyes widening as he hadn't thought of that. He nodded and Matthew gave him a polite goodbye before heading out and leaving Arthur to leave on his own. Last month he'd tried everything to leave by himself, but there were several personifications who'd felt the need to check up on him. He guessed that this time it was Alfred who was getting those sorts of visits and he stopped abruptly as he realized he really did feel a little ashamed that his prank had such an effect on his younger brother. He sighed as he got into his car, wondering what sort of things Alfred had gotten into to try and cheer himself up.

* * *

For his part, Alfred had let Francis guide him out to the parking lot and sit in the warm sunny air as he continued to shake a little. The breeze was nice and being out in the bright daylight again eased his worries while Francis looked over his hands. Looking down, Alfred noticed that he'd had a sliver of a mirror shard still in his palm and Francis was gently trying to get him to open up his fist so that he could take it out for him.

"S-sorry." Alfred said, doing as Francis asked and sighing as he realized how wimpy he'd made himself look as he flailed around at nothing and had made such a mess. "Thanks Francis. You don't have to hang around with me. I'd understand." He said with another sigh as Francis gently took out a handkerchief and used it to wrap Alfred's hand.

"Non. Do you really want to be alone right now, mon ami?" Francis asked, a hand under Alfred's chin to force the younger nation to look up at him. "Angleterre went a little too far with his prank. He really was only acting out of his own fears your stunt last month caused. He was quite embarrassed at how he was shown around the world calling out to you." He said, Alfred nodding.

"I know. I sent him a gift basket with my favorite kinds of coffee in it as a sort of 'sorry'. I'm guessin' he didn't really like it." Alfred said, Francis chuckling at that as he knew just how much Arthur did _not_ like American brands of coffee if he had to drink _any_ coffee at all.

"I'm sure he understood the message. But as you like to point out, we Europeans are very good at recalling old grudges." Francis teased, relieved when Alfred smiled at him in return. "Let's get you back to your hotel and you can change into some dry clothes. Unless of course you'd prefer to wear no clothes, hon hon hon…" Francis said, Alfred shooting him an unamused look and pulling his hand out of Francis' hold while the other man continued to laugh. "I will just go get our things from the meeting room and then we can leave." He said, Alfred shaking his head before appearing to remember something.

"You don't have to Francis. Really. I can drive myself." Alfred said, standing up and fishing for the keys to his rental car in his pockets.

"After the shock you just had? No, you are still too wound up." Francis said, turning back around and placing his hands on Alfred's shoulders in a way that reminded Alfred of when Arthur would do that for him when he was younger. Occasionally Arthur would attempt to do so when he made the effort to talk sincerely with Alfred, although the effect was lost as he now had to reach up to do that while Francis was more or less of a similar height to Alfred. "Let big brother France take care of you and you will be back to feeling your cheery self once again in no time." He said, Alfred letting out a small chuckle.

"Yeah right. I think maybe a trip to a bar might help wind me down." He said, swallowing past the lump in his throat as he again thought of the horrific face Arthur knew was exactly like all the nightmares he'd had and described to Arthur. It hurt that he'd used something like that, but Alfred was content to let the others think the British man had crafted some generic looking horror movie ghost with his black magic and had used that to scare the daylights out of Alfred.

"No. I have told you, mon ami, you are too young for that." Francis said, Alfred rolling his eyes and letting his shoulders slump a little at being denied a drink by the Frenchman. "I'm still not convinced you're not about to have a panic attack. Whatever Arthur made you see still has you shaking. Alcohol is not a good idea." Francis said, steering Alfred to his car and urging him to sit in the car while he waited for Francis to arrive. The Frenchman was gone for only a few minutes, but it felt longer to Alfred as he wished he could call to Arthur like he normally did when he had that recurring nightmare that he felt must've come from some of the frightening things he'd seen from the Salem Witch Trials that permanently made him terrified of ghost stories from experiencing that at a young age. He felt his eyes watering up at remembering that he couldn't because it was Arthur who'd sent that image to him in the first place, angrily wiping away the tears and repeating over and over to himself that heroes don't cry. He had held himself tightly and tried to take deep breaths when he was startled badly enough to jump in his seat as Francis got back in the car.

"Desole, mon petit. It is only me." Francis said as he tossed their briefcases into the backseat of their car, gently squeezing Alfred's shoulder to reassure him once more before pulling out and driving to where Alfred was staying for the remainder of the conference. Although, Alfred wasn't sure if he wanted to stay the last day after what had happened, but could think of a million reasons why he also very much should attend – namely an overly amused Russian who'd take the opportunity to probably make the situation worse for Alfred.

Francis had waited patiently for Alfred to change into more comfortable clothing before taking him to a small café that Alfred assumed he must've gone to during the break. There weren't many people there and it allowed for Alfred to wind down without worrying about what he looked like to any other personification, grateful to Francis and his inclination to be everyone's 'big brother'. Oddly enough, the other man's tendencies to be a little more flirtatious and to push boundaries wasn't off-putting to Alfred as the other spoke with him about several things he'd done to Arthur over the years that possibly made the other so disgruntled, their conversation easy and lighthearted as Alfred's own lack of boundaries kept things flowing freely. He didn't often spend time with Francis like this, even though they got along just fine, Alfred reminded of who exactly he was joking around with when Francis seemingly couldn't help make some more lewd remarks as Alfred eased back into his usual self.

"You see, mon ami, I have gotten back at Arthur so many times, it is amazing he hasn't just conceded my superiority over him. He just likes to pretend _he_ is superior all the time." Francis was saying as Alfred munched on another chocolate chip cookie and ordered another coffee, reluctant to head back just yet to his hotel. "He tends to conveniently 'forget' about that should I bring it up in conversation about when we were younger and he was still very much a child himself. He avoided me like the plague for a while after I messed with his hair one time, hon hon hon." Francis said with a fond smirk as he recalled that particular tease to his frenemy.

"Yeah? That explains a lot." Alfred said with a laugh, getting whipped cream on his nose as he drank his coffee. Francis fondly looked at him as he handed the other a napkin and indicated where Alfred needed to wipe. "Like the plague, you said?" Alfred asked as he wiped his face, diving back into his cookie.

"Oui. One thing that scared him bad enough to calm down for a while was the actual plague. I think he still harbors a bit of worry about that." Francis said with a chuckle. "Have you seen how popular his zombie films are over in his lands? They are almost as popular as in your lands I think, although your people seem to enjoy the idea of just shooting at them over and over and over." Francis said with an eye roll, winking at the waiter who brought over Francis' own coffee he'd ordered. Doing so, he missed how Alfred paused mid-bite at that comment, his mind already coming up with something he was sure would scare Arthur as badly as he'd been scared. And, he'd use Arthur's own tactics and take something from his past too, adding a touch of his trademark _Hollywood_ magic to the prank.

* * *

The next meeting was held in Italy and Arthur felt the need to keep up his guard the entire time. It was the last day and so far, things went as much as they were expected. Francis had felt the need to reprimand him and Arthur had decided to carry his wand around just in case the Frenchman decided to do so yet again and test the British man's patience. It was this reason, Arthur told himself, and not because he was constantly worrying about what sort of thing Alfred might have had in store. But other than being less outgoing than normal, which many attributed to his continued embarrassment even though Alfred usually bounced back fairly quickly, nothing was too out of the ordinary. Not even Feliciano's greeting that had involved everyone walking into the room to find a plate of pasta on their desk, Arthur sighing and shaking his head at the predictable obsession over pasta the northern Italian loved to share with the others.

Alfred was currently sitting beside his twin, feet up on the desk and being mindful not to knock the plate that had held that day's dish of pasta that the American had eagerly consumed with a multitude of thanks and compliments to Feliciano. He had his head back and eyes closed as he held his arms behind his head.

"Hey, you doing alright eh?" Matthew asked from where they sat, Arthur doing his best to act as though he wasn't eavesdropping and was merely talking with Lithuania as the man asked him for advice on a few things. He tensed a little, wondering if this was the moment he was waiting for and listening for Alfred's answer.

"Hmm? Oh, I'm fine." Alfred said, scratching at his leg. "I went for a walk the other day and got lost again. Wandered down to one of the ports and went to check out this awesome lookin' boat when I fell through one of the planks on the wood deck. Must've rotted or something and there were rats everywhere man." Alfred said, shivering a little as though recalling that nasty encounter. "One of 'em managed to bite me good. But I cleaned it out as best I could. It just itches a little." Alfred said, Arthur relaxing a little at the typical remark about getting lost. But apparently Lithuania had heard the story too and excused himself to go talk with Alfred. But it seemed the American really didn't want Toris' help, promptly taking his legs off the desk and denying that anything was wrong as Arthur came back over to sit beside his brothers.

"I would feel much better if you'd let me help you Mr. America. Just let me see it." Toris said, Alfred shaking his head.

"No. I told you I'm…I'm….achoo!" Alfred said, 'sneezing' and then coughing in Arthur's direction. Arthur leaned back from Alfred with an irritated expression on his face as Alfred took out a tissue and coughed a couple more times.

"Alfred, watch what you are doing." Arthur grumbled and he wiped at his face with his sleeve, not feeling any spit on him but just knowing that the American had done that was gross enough; that, and Arthur knew he would likely catch whatever it was that had been strong enough to affect his younger brother.

"Sorry dude." Alfred said with a 'sniffle' and sending a smile toward Arthur that the other man returned with a scowl of his own.

"Alfred, you don't look too good. You're paler than usual and I know you spent a lot of time in the bathroom this morning during the meeting." Matthew said, eyeing his brother carefully.

"I agree Mr. America, perhaps you should lie down." Toris said, making to touch Alfred's forehead. "Mr. America, why do you have your jacket on in here? It's much too hot." Toris asked as he too scrutinized the other personification. "And with your collar up too?" He asked in confusion, only having seen his friend do so on a few occasions.

"'S not hot." Alfred said, rubbing his neck and then placing his hands in his pockets. Arthur looked over at him incredulously, the heat always getting to Arthur and he could see the Nordics having a rough time too since Feliciano, like Antonio, didn't seem to want to put the air conditioner on right away so they could all 'enjoy' his Mediterranean climate. He knew Alfred preferred the heat to the cold, but this was ridiculous even for him and Arthur could see Alfred sweating. "Nah. I'm not t-too hot." Alfred said, looking as though he lost the battle to stop the chill that ran down his spine. "Jacket's helping with the aches that must've happened when I fell through the wood. Got 'em all along my abdomen dude. Not taking the jacket off." He said, seeming to hold himself tighter. "Besides…" he said, taking a deep breath that he seemed to have trouble with, coughing again into his tissue, "I already took some pain reliever for the headache." He said with a shrug as though there wasn't much else he could've done.

"Mr. America…." Toris said slowly as he went over the list of 'symptoms' that Alfred 'inadvertently' listed out for him. "You wouldn't happen to have a fever, would you?" He asked, Alfred not meeting his gaze.

"Oh, for heaven's sake Alfred." Arthur said, getting worked up as Alfred seemed to have caught himself a nasty cold. He turned to face him only to have Alfred cough again into the tissue and fumble with it, the tissue landing on the desk and displaying a bright red on it.

"Mr. America, this is not good!" Toris said, alarmed at the prospect of his friend coughing up blood. But Alfred just waved him off, pocketing the tissue before either his friend or one of his brothers said anything else. Arthur looked at Alfred in disgust at the illness before his face fell as he connected things in his head. It was too painfully familiar for him the list of symptoms and he swallowed thickly.

"You said…you were bitten…by a rat?" Arthur asked slowly, Alfred looking up at him and giving a nod. Shakily Arthur reached for the collar of Alfred's jacket, feeling the warmth on the other's neck before he'd even touched him. "You do have a fever…" Arthur said a little breathlessly before breathing deeply and reaching forward again to his brother.

"No, don't!" Alfred pretended, leaning back into Matthew as Arthur reached forward. But Arthur was quicker it seemed and he'd pulled the collar down to see what looked like a swollen portion of Alfred's neck. His eyes widened dramatically and he loudly gasped, fear plain to see on his face as he rapidly tried to stand up and back away from the 'plague infested' American, tripping over himself as he gave a shout of surprise before hastily running out of the room with terror on his face.

"Mr. America!" Toris shouted as Alfred stood up to follow after Arthur, the reaction not the one he was hoping for. He'd expected the other man to shout like he did but to then attempt to wipe his face again from being 'sneezed' on and make a spectacle of himself. Sure, he'd expected there to be the same level of fear that he'd experienced with the image of the witch-ghost thing Arthur had conjured up for him, but there was absolute terror and despair in Arthur's eyes and the British man couldn't get away from him fast enough.

Matthew also reached for his twin, unaware of the elaborate setup that Alfred had taken a month to plan and prepare, the prosthetic on his neck requiring him to use a strong adhesive to his skin and loads of makeup that was legitimately making his nose twitch. And wearing his jacket with pocket warmers on his neck for the last twenty minutes was making his head swim from the heat too. The Canadian also pulled down his twin's collar gasping at what he saw and leaving it down for the others to see, the Lithuanian personification swearing at what he too connected to be the Black Death.

"No, Matt, I gotta go find Arthur. I need to talk to him." Alfred said, shaking off his brother's hold and trying to follow after Arthur, gasping as the heat caught up with him and regretting adding that little touch to his performance. His apparent shortness of breath was the last convincing feature and several European nations he passed gave him a wide berth as he passed, heading for the door.

"Alfred, stop! You need to take care of yourself. Let me and Toris help you and then we can find Arthur for you." Matthew said, Alfred huffing and spinning around to face his twin.

"Matt, I appreciate it and all, but I just need to…" He was saying, unaware that the man he was trying to follow had reentered the room and had walked up behind him. As he was speaking, Arthur raised the vase that had been holding the flowers on the table outside the doors to the meeting room and smacked Alfred on the back of the head, the American stumbling forward a couple of steps before his eyes rolled back and he collapsed.

"What did you do that for?!" Francis shouted, as equally worried about another worldwide spread of the devastating plague that looked like they were all exposed to. It may not be on their lands, although Feliciano was shaking on his chair at this point and Romano had his head in his hands as he leaned on his desk, but there was always the possibility that whatever they contracted might spread to their lands and people as a result of being personifications. And with all the personifications returned from their break, that appeared to be a very real possibility to them. Feliciano whimpered a few times, tugging on his older brother's sleeve to look him over for signs of the plague again and for him to do the same for him, the others seated nearby the Italian brothers fleeing their seats just in case.

"He would've left and wandered around all of Italy until he found his way to wherever he was trying to go!" Arthur breathlessly responded. "He can't move around now. Who knows how long he's been carrying this around?!" He said, dropping to his knees and pulling up Alfred's pant leg. He expected to see a blackened mark, but when he only saw a red mark from Alfred's scratching as he put on his performance, he breathed a sigh of relief at the idea that they had some time to reverse things for Alfred. "He's already…already coughed and sneezed all over me. You too I'm afraid, Matthew." Arthur said thickly, looking up and over to the Canadian, Matthew whimpering a little at that realization. "Help me get him to my room." Arthur said to Matthew, thankful that the Italy brothers had planned for the conference to take place in one of their large hotels. Matthew hesitated only for a moment before coming around his desk and walking over to Arthur, the three of them with more room than these sorts of meeting with numerous personifications typically allowed. _Then again_ , Matthew thought as he gathered his brother into his arms with only a small amount of discomfort showing on his face, _they were all avoiding them literally like the plague_.

"You just said he shouldn't be moved. I agree Mr. Britain." Toris said from where he stood, negatively gesturing to Feliks to remain where he was since he too had been so close to Alfred while the other had been sneezing and coughing all over Arthur. Feliks shot him a pained expression, clearly wanting nothing more than to rush over to the other as though he could stop whatever bacteria had started to attack the Lithuanian man. "How is carrying him to your room going to solve anything? All it will do is possibly spread the plague." He said, several personifications audibly making noises of despair as the other man bluntly stated the apparent possibilities.

"Mon petit, leave him where he is Mathieu." Francis said with a pleading look. "We can call for an ambulance and have him quarantined. We may all have to do that." He said, Feliciano shouting out in apparent distress at finding what looked like a sign of the plague on his brother's back, Romano unable to see it for himself and twisting and turning in a panic.

"Romano, stop moving and I will tell you if that is what Feliciano thinks." Antonio said, coming back a little closer as Feliciano held his brother still, the southern Italian shaking as he stood still with his eyes clenched tightly shut. Antonio approached and Feliciano pointed out what looked like an irritated bite mark of some sort, the Spanish personification covering his mouth to try and stifle the gasp. But Romano apparently heard it and his eyes flew open, once again trying to see the mark before giving up and collapsing into his seat with tears in his eyes.

"I went to a dock yesterday too." He admitted, hanging his head. "I was taking one of the boats out and anchored a few miles off shore to relax and take in the sun." He said, sniffling a little and looking down. "I didn't feel anything bite me though. Are you sure it's a bite mark?" He asked, looking back up pleadingly to Feliciano and Antonio and receiving only sympathetic looks that caused him to whine softly and drop his head again. Feliciano sniffled a few times before launching himself on his older brother, Romano gasping before trying to release himself from his brother's grip.

"No you idiot! You'll catch it too!" He said, struggling to get Feliciano to release him. But Feliciano held tight, crying like a baby over him and his brother having to go through that again. It wasn't like the plague hadn't recurred now and then, but they'd been lulled into thinking that it wouldn't happen again. Ludwig sighed and walked forward, prying Feliciano off of Romano with Antonio's help.

"Everybody calm down, s'il vouis plait." Francis cried out, knowing that he was most likely next to catch it if it appeared that it was on the land too and not just being passed around like any normal human illness. At the apparent 'discovery' made by Antonio and Feliciano about southern Italy being affected, voices began to be raised and panic was on the threshold. "If we just handle Alfred's case properly, and treat Romano the same way, we should be able to…" He was saying only to notice that Arthur had used the distraction provided by the Italy brothers to slip out. He was not the only one to notice and all out panic overtook the other personifications as many made for the doors themselves. The only thing that stopped the more flighty nations were the imposing figures of Ludwig and Ivan stepping in front of the doorway out of the room, both looking ready to do battle if necessary.

"Nobody is going anywhere right now." Ludwig said, shouting over the panicked voices as he held off the mad rush out of the room. Ivan nodded along with him, his stare making several close personifications take a few steps back.

"Da. Am not concerned with how you want to deal with it in your lands, but I am not willing to have plague back on my lands anytime soon." He said, looking around the room. "General Winter will take care of it for me, but _don't_ make me have to rely on him." He said, many Eastern European personifications numbly nodding as it seemed like Russia had resumed authority over them again at the moment as their fear kept them quiet. Feliks had abandoned care and was latched tightly to Toris, the other man holding him equally as tight despite his concerns. But with a large, militaristic German and an equally large and formidable Russian in their way, the others made their way away from the doors to seek comfort in friends and neighbors until there was a solid plan.

* * *

Arthur quickly lead the way to his room, muttering under his breath in an English Matthew had not the faintest idea of how to understand and with eyes alight in a way that had Matthew worried the other man might have snapped. He dropped Alfred onto Arthur's bed as the other began to unceremoniously rifle through his things, tossing things everywhere as he paced back and forth between one area of the room and another like he was trapped. The Canadian bit his lip as he watched, hoping the knock to Alfred's head would wear off soon so that he could try and calm Arthur's terror.

"Arthur…" Matthew said, reaching out to touch the older personification's shoulder only to have Arthur spin around and push Matthew up against the wall. The Canadian let out a frightened 'eep' at being startled before he gently placed his hands over Arthur's to ease the other's grip on his shirt. "Britain…Britain, calm down." Matthew said in his whisper voice, hoping that would be enough to snap Arthur out of this apparent living flashback. The other took a deep breath before he backed up out of Matthew's face, releasing him to return to his things and pulling out his wand. "Uh oh…." Matthew whimpered as he watched worriedly as Arthur went to all the corners of the room and muttered something that made it glow briefly before he returned to his things for something else.

"Mmmm…." Alfred said from the bed, raising his hand to his head and rolling onto his side, taking Matthew's attention away from Arthur momentarily to watch his brother attempting to wake up. Returning his gaze to Arthur, Matthew scrambled off the bed as he saw the other man with a knife about to cut into his palm.

"Arthur, what are you doing? Stop!" Matthew said, struggling with the older man to get it out of his grasp, Arthur grunting to keep the strong Canadian from taking the knife away from him. In his concern to keep the knife away, Matthew seemed to forget about Arthur's fighting skills, the other man deftly tripping the Canadian and grabbing the knife back. Matthew quickly got back to his feet but Arthur had moved on from cutting his palm to looking about the room for something.

"B-Britain…" Matthew called out, hands out in front of him as he cautiously approached the other man, only briefly noticing out of the corner of his eye Alfred confusedly looking about the room. "B-Britain, what…what do you need?" Matthew tried, hoping to get through to his older brother that way. "Y-You know, this is one heck of a mess you're making here, eh? And d-don't think I'm helping clean it up….he he he…" He continued, trying to keep things calm long enough for him to get within reach of the knife and keep it away. Arthur's eyes widened before he muttered something and brushed past Matthew into the bathroom, grabbing the bar of soap.

"Um…okay…" Matthew said, head cocked to the side as he watched Arthur in confusion. "So, not the sort of cleaning I was talking about…" He said, watching as Arthur drew on the floor with the bar of soap, leaving markings on the floor. "Oh, you're conjuring." Matthew said in understanding, Arthur muttering something to him over his shoulder before returning to his task. "B-But I can't understand you and I…I would really appreciate you talking to me normally Arthur." Matthew said, his voice a little strained. Arthur continued to ignore him though, earning a frustrated exclamation of 'Maple' from Matthew as he walked over to Arthur to get him to turn around. But Arthur had apparently had enough of Matthew trying to intervene and quickly shoved him backwards, the Canadian stumbling into the bathroom and the door slamming shut thanks to Arthur's wand. Matthew pounded on the door and tried to turn the doorknob, resorting to attempting to break down the door.

By this point, Alfred was wide awake again, sporting a lump on the back of his head courtesy of Arthur and a very prominent headache. He sat up and tried to figure out what was going on, eyes widening at watching Arthur lock his twin in the bathroom. "Hey dude, not cool. What are you…whoa!" Alfred was saying as he walked over to Arthur, intending to pick up where his twin left off. But Arthur pointed his wand in Alfred's face, the end of it glowing and getting the message across to Alfred not to move. Even if he didn't believe in magic, Alfred could tell that doing anything otherwise wouldn't be the smartest move at the moment.

"Ah, okay Britain. Just…just talk to me man. What's goin' on here?" Alfred asked, sitting back down on the bed.

"Arthur, Alfred needs to go get professional help. It's not the 14th century. Medicine today _will_ actually cure him if we get it to him fast enough." Matthew shouted from the bathroom, voice muffled and Alfred realizing that the other must've been yelling at the top of his voice if he was able to hear him at all. In response, Arthur muttered something else Alfred didn't understand, but the motion of the wand towards the middle of the circle made Alfred pause and look at Arthur in even more confusion. Arthur did it again, motioning from the circle to Alfred before growling and pulling out the knife.

"Oh! I get it. I get it." Alfred said, walking over to stand in the circle despite knowing that usually things didn't end well when Arthur drew those things and standing in the middle of one might not be wise. "I'd have gotten it the first time if you spoke in English dude. I mean, current English, bro. I can at least understand the words even if I don't get half of what you say." He said with a nervous chuckle, Arthur ignoring him and beginning to chant with his eyes closed.

"What's he doing Alfred? Are you doing alright?" Matthew shouted out again, Alfred wincing as he realized his twin was probably going to be hoarse from yelling as loudly as he was since the Canadian hardly ever raised his voice to that level.

"I'm okay. I was trying to tell ya that when _someone_ knocked me out." Alfred said in an unamused tone, glaring at Arthur, the other man cracking open one eye briefly before returning to chanting. "I'm guessin' this is his way of curin' the plague?" He shouted to Matthew, working to remove the prosthetic from his neck as quickly as he could without it pulling away some of his own skin from being rapidly removed by force alone. It stung, but if Arthur finished without getting any results while he was stuck in his 14th century mindset, Alfred didn't really know what to expect.

"Yes. I guess he didn't trust medicines then to do the job since they weren't exactly the most effective. He probably figured he'd skip those failures this time and go straight to a magical cure. I don't think he's all there at the moment." Matthew said, Alfred already hearing the strain in his voice and sympathizing with his brother who had begun to try and break the door down again. But his twin's words spurred him to work faster, unsettled by the eerie light that seemed to be coming from the soap stains on the floor that he wasn't sure he was just imagining as Arthur's voice got louder.

Alfred hissed a little as he finally got the last part of the prosthetic that had remained determinedly attached to his skin off, tossing it into one of his jacket's inner pockets to avoid Arthur seeing it. He worked to rub the makeup off his face with the tissues he was able to reach on the bedside table, tossing them in his jacket as well. He blinked rapidly as it seemed a heavy draft suddenly hit him from below, and he panicked when he opened his eyes to see Arthur also with his eyes open and slicing into his palm with the knife.

"Dude, stop! What are you doing?" Alfred said, but Arthur had already begun to drip blood onto the floor with a final, louder word that seemed to Alfred, timed with some sort of tremor as he fell to the ground on his back. Alfred breathed heavily for a moment as he tried to get his bearings, wondering what had just happened. The calm was broken as Matthew finally came through the bathroom door, landing with a thud onto the floor and spying his twin also on the floor.

"Alfred!" Matthew exclaimed, rushing over to the American as Alfred groaned and sat up, looking to Arthur who seemed to sway where he stood. Motioning for Matthew to follow his line of sight, the northern twin quickly got to his feet and helped Arthur to the bed, the British man sagging into Matthew's shoulders.

"What….was that?" Alfred asked as he stood up, feeling a little disoriented but otherwise incredibly refreshed like he'd had a great sleep the night before and could do anything.

"Cured you." Arthur said bluntly, gaining the other two's undivided attention. "And me. And Matthew. Should've worked on anybody you passed it along to." Arthur said tiredly, Alfred looking over to Matthew for answers. But the Canadian simply shrugged in response as he supported Arthur.

"Glad to have you back with us in the 21st century." Alfred said with a chuckle as Arthur did his best to glare at him.

"I'm sorry about that Matthew. I don't know what came over me." Arthur said, sitting up more on his own. "I was just, so terrified of…never mind so long as it worked." He said, taking a deep breath to compose himself.

"Did it? I don't feel any different…" Matthew said, trailing off as he mentally checked over himself. "Then again, I wasn't feeling ill before either. Guess it was too soon." Matthew said, causing Arthur's eyes to widen in obvious fear that his spell hadn't done anything. He abruptly stood up, staggering a little from his exhaustion and into Alfred, the taller man holding him up. Quickly, Arthur pulled Alfred's collar down to check for himself, running his hand over the reddened area where Alfred had hastily taken off his disguise. Alfred stilled under Arthur's touch as it lingered a little longer than was probably necessary before Arthur laughed and pulled his hand away, both North Americans looking at him in concern as he continued to laugh. Matthew stood up from the bed and guided Arthur back to the bed, Arthur taking a few deep breaths as he tried to calm down.

"Hey, you did it eh?" Matthew said comfortingly as he eased Arthur onto the bed, Arthur clenching his eyes shut as he seemed to tremble a little. "It's all alright Arthur." Matthew said again, caringly and carefully taking the knife and wand out of Arthur's hands and setting them within his line of sight on the table before trying to make Arthur comfortable. Alfred watched, feeling guilty at reducing Arthur to that state but before he could say anything, Matthew turned to him with a finger to his lips to be quiet and ushered his twin out into the hall.

"Think he'll be okay?" Alfred said worriedly, staring at the door as though he could see through it to the sleeping Brit behind it. "Man, I didn't mean to scare him like that." He said, Matthew shooting him a small smile.

"No, I know. But he probably will need someone who went through it before and from that time to help him get through it." Matthew said with a sigh, Alfred nodding.

"So, Francis then?" Alfred asked, turning to look at his brother. "I doubt he'll want to see him as the first person he wakes up to, but it's him or Antonio. Or would there be anyone else he'd have been in communication with at the time and could talk him down?" Alfred asked as they walked back to the conference room. Matthew shrugged and Alfred sighed again, pausing as they passed his room.

"Wait a sec Mattie. I'll be right back." Alfred said, Matthew leaning against the wall to wait for his brother to do whatever he needed to do. Alfred quickly tossed the prosthetic into his trash bin along with all the tissues that were now covered in makeup, including the one with the fake blood on it. He shoved it under the sink in his bathroom, everything covered in copious amounts of toilet paper since he knew that housekeeping had yet to come along and hopefully he could get rid of anything that might make Arthur panic like that again. The quicker that all of the reminders for both of them were gone, the better and Alfred felt confident that he could fix whatever problems his prank seemed to cause to the others. Reemerging from his room, he nodded to his twin and they headed back to the conference room.

"Wait, what if they decide to….I don't know." Matthew began as he reached to halt his twin's hand from opening up the doors. "They might decide to try and take care of the plague by, you know, taking care of us. And not in the free healthcare sort of way." The Canadian said, Alfred rolling his eyes as his brother brought up his own lands' practices.

"They'd have to go through the hero first." Alfred said, Matthew shooting him an unconvinced look and folding his arms over his chest.

"Better make sure there are no more vases around then, eh?" Matthew said, Alfred scowling at his twin's comment about earlier events.

"That was only because he snuck up behind me. And I didn't think he'd do something like that." Alfred said, taking his brother's hand off of his own. "Trust me Matt. Once they see that thing on my neck is gone, it'll be fine. They're probably just waiting around for the hero to show up anyway." He said as he flashed a smile to his twin. "The sooner we make sure World War III isn't about to start, the sooner we can get back to checking on Arthur." He said in all seriousness, Matthew nodding as he recognized that tone in the superpower's voice. With that Alfred pulled the doors open with both hands, staring in surprise at the sight that greeted him and Matthew.

"Huh? Not expecting that to happen so fast." Matthew whispered to him as he looked around the room from between the space left by Ivan and Ludwig, both of whom had turned around at the doors being so suddenly opened. Behind them the tables had been turned on their sides to act as barriers between different areas of the room where it appeared personifications had grouped themselves together. All except for the Italy brothers who were stuck out in no man's land, Feliciano waving his white flag as he held onto an unamused Romano.

"Uh…what'd we miss?" Alfred asked to Ivan and Ludwig, the two voluntary sentries looking to one another before roughly shutting the door on Alfred and Matthew. "Hey!" Alfred yelled, grabbing the door and attempting to open it up again.

"Nyet. You cannot be allowed in." Ivan said with a finality that only ever made Alfred irritated and look to find a way to oppose. "You vill be getting us all sick. Why have you not gone to a hospital and quarantined yourself?" Ivan asked, Alfred growling and banging his head on the door.

"Because ya damn ruskie, I ain't carryin' the plague." Alfred called out, Matthew adding his own verification of that but was unsure if anyone actually heard him. "Francis, get them to open the doors. Arthur's in a bad way right now…" Alfred said, hearing Ludwig attempting to speak to Ivan in rushed tones from his side of the door. "Hey, I can hear you ya know…" Alfred grumbled, shaking the doors a little harder to get his point across. They all knew he could probably very easily rip the doors off their hinges and out of even Ludwig's hands, especially the whimpering personifications on the other side of the door actually pleading to Ivan to save them from Alfred in a reversal of circumstances. Alfred could've laughed at that if not for the fact that he was being denied what he need. "Sorry Francis…" Alfred mumbled, Matthew looking at him questioningly. Alfred took a deep breath before employing his last resort.

"Tell ya what…" Alfred said in a bargaining tone, hearing some of the raised voices disappearing at they listened to Alfred. "You all know that I can and will rip these doors open to get inside, right out of your hands Ivan. You too Ludwig." He said in as calm a manner as possible, Matthew sighing and backing away from the doors. "But I'll leave for now, _if_ you send out Francis." He said, stressing he meant business by shaking the doors violently and nearly out of the hands of at least one of the two personifications attempting to block his entry. "You've got three minutes and then I'm coming in. And just for the record, I don't have the plague!" He said, giving one last shake before dropping his hands off the doors.

"That was smooth Alfred." Matthew said from behind him with an eye roll. Alfred turned to him and gave him a shrug. "We don't have time for smooth. And it'll work or have you forgotten I'm very good at this sort of thing?" Alfred said, Matthew responding by sitting in one of the chairs by the doorway to wait for Francis to be dumped out of the room. Alfred however continued to stand by the door, hearing the personifications bickering amongst one another both for and against sending Francis out, the Frenchman the most vocal of them all. It was nearing the three minute mark when he heard what sounded like someone giving chase, snickering a little at the image conjured up of Francis trying to leap over to another group's 'territory' to keep away. But when the chase lasted to where they had ten seconds, Alfred began a countdown for dramatic effect and for whoever was doing the chasing to hurry it up.

"Alright, I warned you." Alfred said as he reached zero, shaking the doors again and feeling as though there might have been more personifications that decided to aid Ludwig and Ivan. "Whoa…guess a few more of ya grew some backbone. He he he…" He said as he played around, shooting a look over to Matthew to see him shaking his head at his twin's antics. "You do know I don't actually need to come through the _door_ , right? Alfred smash!" He said in a voice meant to mock the hulk. "These walls can come down pretty easily. Just gotta have the right touch like me, ha ha ha" he teased, Matthew sending over a reprimanding ' _Alfred_ ' to him as Alfred played with the others if only to get Francis to come out sooner. He let go of the doors for a moment, hearing Hungary's voice on the other side from where she must've decided to aid Ludwig whispering that maybe Alfred gave up since he was weak from the plague. "I _don't_ have the plague!" Alfred shouted, banging on the doors a little harder than he meant to in his anger, knocking a hole in the door that he could peak into the room through. Several personifications screamed at that, Alfred muttering an 'oops' as he looked over to Matthew. The Canadian gave him a long-suffering look at having his brother breaking things on accident, Alfred's break in the door enough to spur the personifications that had been holding it back to renewing their efforts. Alfred growled in frustration at Francis not having been tossed out. "Grrr…that's it!" Alfred said, Matthew actually getting up this time and attempting to halt his brother's actions. Apparently that was all that was necessary as Francis was then pushed out the room and the doors hastily closed again. Francis got to his knees as he looked up to the two North Americans, Alfred standing smugly beside his twin with his arms crossed. "Knew they'd eventually figure it out. Come on Francis." Alfred said as he motioned for the other man to follow after him, but Francis instead banged on the door and pleaded to be let back in. Not even Matthew's assurances that everything was fine would stop the tears that were leaking out of the other man's face.

"Man, _come on_. I don't have all day." Alfred said, walking back over and lifting the Frenchman up and over his shoulder, Francis giving out a shriek and shouting about being betrayed by his allies. "I _don't_ have the plague. You can thank Arthur for having a spaz moment and making sure nobody I even looked at has the plague. Dude wore himself out and if he thinks he's in the 14th century again when he wakes up, we're all gonna be in some trouble." Alfred said, dropping Francis to his feet once they were near Arthur's room. "See?" Alfred said, pulling his collar down. Francis clenched his eyes shut and leaned back as though Alfred was going to assault him. But he peeked out when nothing seemed to happen, Alfred standing next to him as patiently as he could as he waited for Francis to understand he really wasn't about to bring the end of all mankind by reintroducing an American strain of the plague that the Europeans and everyone not from his hemisphere wouldn't have any resistance to. Like Arthur, Francis shakily ran his hand over the red mark.

"What miracle is this?" Francis said, pulling his hand away. Alfred laughed and let his jacket lie naturally again. "No miracle. Well…miracles can happen but this is more of Arthur having a massive panic attack." Alfred said as he banged his fist against Arthur's door at forgetting to grab the other man's room card. But Matthew stopped him before he just crushed the doorknob, opening the door for the two of them. "Like I said, he was pretty convinced he was back in the 14th century and that the plague was surrounding him on all sides again. Couldn't handle it I guess." Alfred said as they walked inside, Francis heading over to look over the sleeping Arthur. "Did he have to hit me on the head with a vase though? Did it at least look cool?" Alfred said, Matthew and Francis chuckling at his typical remarks.

"No. I'm afraid it was more comical than anything." Francis said, Matthew nodding and sending a sympathetic smile to his brother as Alfred huffed and crossed his arms.

"Yeah, well, that's the last time he gets the drop on me like that." Alfred grumbled, pouting and looking very much like the little kid Francis liked to call him. "Laugh it up now 'cuz it ain't gonna be a regular thing at these conferences." Alfred said, Francis smirking at the American and more at ease now that he was convinced the threat of the plague was not real.

"By the way, how the hell did _Ivan_ get so many personifications to back him up? America gets a cold and suddenly the rest of the world thinks Russia's the hottest thing on the planet. 'Cuz it's like, the total opposite of that." Alfred continued to grumble to the amusement of the two French speakers in the room, Matthew and Francis shooting each other identical looks at how Alfred's ranting reminded them of a certain other unconscious personification's tendency to go off like that when flustered.

"Why did you want moi to help calm him down?" Francis asked once it was clear Alfred had at least momentarily paused. "If he wakes up convinced it's the 1300s, I'm probably the last person he wants to wake up to you know." He said with a pointed look to the two of them. "Of course, it will be amusing to see him like that again, and I am more than capable of handling him…but I suppose, he was a bit argumentative with plenty of others at the time." Francis said as he thought about it. "He and I did get in one another's face enough that he'd probably take a moment to listen to me I suppose. Ah, we shall see what 'appens when he wakes up." He said, getting up and walking over to the wreckage of the bathroom door.

"Oh, he he he…." Matthew said, rubbing the back of his sheepishly. "He locked me in the bathroom with his magic and I, um, had to break it down to get out." Matthew said, Francis turning to look over curiously at the Canadian.

"Yeah, clearly he went off the deep end a little. Look at the mess he made." Alfred said, sitting down in one of the chairs in the room as he looked over the clothes strewn everywhere and soap stains on the floor. The outline of a circle was still visible, but all the other squiggles he'd drawn with the soap were indistinguishable now, even though Alfred wouldn't have been able to make sense of them before either. "I guess we just wait for whenever his majesty decides to reenter the modern world."

"He did seem like himself, well, like his current self, just before he passed out." Matthew said as he sat beside his brother and left Francis to sit on the edge of the bed. With whatever Arthur had directed to him that had given him that boost, Alfred was beginning to feel like he may have used it up putting on that show to convince the other personifications to let Francis out to help them out. He felt his eyes getting heavier as he reclined on the chair, wondering if he should stop balancing on two legs like usually annoyed Arthur. Unfortunately he didn't have long to contemplate that possibility as the chair wobbled and he quickly sat the chair back normally, Matthew chuckling at his twin. Alfred shot him a look before sagging more into the chair as Matthew returned to talking with Francis. Alfred let his eyes close and relaxed a little, knowing that once Arthur was up, rest wasn't going to be easy to come by.

"He's not…regressing…is he?" Francis attempted to whisper to Matthew. He waited for his brother to answer but instead felt his neck being prodded. He groaned and opened his eyes to see a sheepish looking Matthew staring back at him.

"I _don't_ have the plague." Alfred said for what felt like the hundredth time that day, seriously regretting even thinking about using that as a way to get back at Arthur. And he certainly wasn't ever going to tell anyone about it since this was the kind of panic that ended up being tossed around even with modern medicine.

"I know. Um…just making sure it wasn't coming back, he he." Matthew said, Alfred lifting up the collar again and slinking further down in the chair before closing his eyes again. He grumbled out something vaguely sounding like a 'shut up' before he was dozing lightly, traces of any conversation coming in and out of his awareness. But when he heard a startled shout that signaled that their British friend was wide awake again, he did his best to not appear too groggy and freak out Arthur again. But for good measure, he slid the telephone out of Arthur's reach in case he decided to use that in lieu of a vase. He was debating sliding the lamp over too when Arthur's panic seemed to subside as Francis held onto his hands and was speaking lowly and gently to the distressed Britain. Arthur took a few deep breaths before he seemed actually awake again and not just startled.

"Good lord Francis, I was not expecting to see your face looming over me as soon I woke." Arthur said, groaning and rubbing his head as he scooted a little away from the Frenchman. "Ugh…I had the most horrific nightmare too." He was saying before spotting the North American twins in his room and seeing the mess scattered all over the place.

"He-Hello Arthur." Matthew mumbled out timidly, waving to the confused British man. "I'm guessing you don't really remember all that's happened, eh?" Matthew asked, Arthur looking back and forth between Alfred and Matthew before looking back over to Francis. Alfred attempted to sit upright more, yawning and trying to rub the sleep out of his eyes. He didn't doubt that he probably looked a little worse for wear after having done a quick cleanup of the makeup and then stressed over how to fix everything like a hero should.

Arthur gasped and looked back over to Alfred with wide eyes, almost as though afraid of the man. He looked on the verge of hyperventilating again and Francis' gentle touch spooked him enough for the British man to nearly fall off the bed. "Angleterre, it's alright. Whatever you did before seems to have rectified things. It's not the 14th century anymore mon ami. Alfred is fine and so are Matthew and yourself." Francis said calmly before smirking a little. "But of course, I am more than _fine_ in case you were wondering, hon hon hon." He said, his teasing tone seeming to cut through whatever flashback was threating to take over again. Arthur huffed but righted himself, getting up off the bed and looking hesitatingly over to Alfred. Alfred sighed, wondering how many more times he was going to have to repeat that he was not carrying the plague around with him. He felt certain this particular new habit of his was going to be his penance for this joke anyway and would more than satisfy any lingering guilt.

"I. Do. Not. Have. The. Plague." Alfred said slowly as though speaking to a small child and carefully annunciating each word. "Look" He said, showing off the red mark on his neck again to Arthur. The British man flinched, his eyes briefly looking as though there was a hint of genuine fear in them. Alfred stood up from his seat and walked over to Arthur, the other man doing a pretty good job of attempting to appear calm while Alfred could tell that he was probably moments away from collapsing to his knees. Not eager to have a sobbing Britain on his knees at his feet again, Alfred did what he does best and pulled Arthur into a tight hug as he glomped onto his brother. He felt Arthur stiffen before briefly touching him gently and then trying to push Alfred off of him. Alfred laughed as Arthur appeared completely back to normal, choosing to remain attached and let Arthur try and squirm his way out for another minute before pitying him and releasing him.

"You're such an idiot Alfred." Arthur said with a huff, Alfred laughing a few more times at the weak reaction that the older nation gave him as he tried to take in all that had happened. But instead of doing anything else, Alfred plopped back down into the chair he was sitting in and shot a beaming smile toward Arthur.

"Yeah well, I'm not the one who decided to tear apart his room and lock Mattie here in a bathroom. Oh, and if you ever point that glowing stick at me again without warning, don't be surprised if it ends up disappearing someplace where the sun…"

"Okay…." Matthew interrupted before things spiraled into a typical squabble over magic between Arthur and Alfred. "We're all glad to be back to our normal, healthy, happy selves, right?" Matthew said with a smile, getting up to offer a hug to Arthur too. The British man sighed but gave a brief hug to Matthew as well, mumbling out an apology for scaring Matthew the way he did.

"As touching as this all is, there is still one very pressing problem." Francis said, watching Arthur stiffen as he probably feared it had something to do with the plague. Alfred sighed and stood up again, running a hand through his hair as Francis also got to his feet.

"I know, I know…I've been trying to come up with a totally awesome idea fit for the hero but…" Alfred was saying, his words cut off by a yawn. "…But so far, I've got nothing. I mean, they're following Ivan's lead – you too apparently. What was up with that?" Alfred said, attention shifting back to the scene he glimpsed briefly when he'd gotten the doors open for all of five seconds. Francis nervously laughed before clearing his throat.

"Hysteria does not often lead to wise decisions, I will admit…" Francis said, Alfred rolling his eyes. "But the only reason I was behind Ivan was because I had thought it possible that others in the room were also carrying the plague. Those two were the only ones strong enough and imposing enough to put up enough of a barrier to keep things contained." Francis said, Alfred reluctantly seeing some merit in the Frenchman's plan. "I did not expect them to give me up so easily though, the bastards…" Francis said, Arthur laughing as he pieced together what had happened based on the additional bits that Matthew provided for him.

"Oh, how perfect…" Arthur said with a laugh, Francis scowling at the British man. "All it took was for Alfred to ask for you and they handed you over, just like that, hmm?" Arthur asked with a smirk.

"To be fair, I kinda thought he'd be the only one you'd take even a chance at listening to in case you woke up all loopy. Matt and I weren't sure we'd be sticking around…" Alfred began, only to be elbowed by his twin who was shooting a stern look at him. "What? Okay, he definitely knows the hero wouldn't abandon him, right old man? I was just getting reinforcements. Makes complete sense." Alfred said, crossing his arms over his chest and standing up straighter, head held proudly while Matthew shook his head.

"I'm sure Alfred." Arthur said with a bit of a smirk on his face. "But, nonetheless, I appreciate you looking after me. All of you, I suppose." He said, shooting a brief glance over to Francis that didn't look as though Arthur really liked the idea of having the Frenchman around in case he'd had a screw loose when he'd woken up.

"Hey, you know, I really could just knock the wall down since I bet they've barricaded the door." Alfred said with a hand to his chin in thought. "I mean, not that I couldn't push my way through that, but if anybody's hiding behind it, I might end up hurting them. Or we could go all 'Die Hard' and climb through the vents or something and pop out with a 'yippie-ki-yay'." He said, getting more and more excited as he spoke and making Arthur shake his head. "But I think you should stay here Arthur. I gave you a really bad scare and as the hero, I need to make sure you're alright. You are alright, aren't you?" Alfred said, tone quickly switching from carefree and excited to concerned for the British man. "I mean, Matt, would you stay with him and keep him company while Francis and I try to deal with the panicked masses?" He asked, the Canadian nodding in enthusiastic agreement to spending some extra time making sure Arthur was alright, both twins ignoring Arthur's protests.

"Come on dude. When I looked at you, it was like you were blind or something 'cuz you saw me but you weren't _really_ seein' me, you know?" Alfred said, Arthur sighing as it appeared the American had decided that Arthur was unfit for his next 'hero mission' and was doing his best to plead with him to stay behind. "I'll be back in no time to make sure you're back to your grumpy self soon enough dude." He said, grabbing Francis' sleeve and heading out the door before the Frenchman could protest.

Arthur looked around his mess of a room and sighed, begrudgingly understanding why Alfred would be a little hesitant to let him out of the room just yet. The Canadian shot him a wary smile, watching all his movements in case he needed to be restrained or something. "It's alright lad. I really am back to my usual self again." Arthur said, not too insulted when it didn't seem like Matthew was going to take his words at face value. "In the meantime, I'm going to need to find all of my clothes so if you wouldn't mind helping me clean up a bit…." He trailed off, Matthew nodding and the two of them began to clear away the physical reminders of what had happened in that room.

* * *

Alfred and Francis stood outside the conference room, Alfred looking at it in deep contemplation as he found himself in the same predicament. Turning to Francis he asked him the same question he'd asked about the other's plan for another time.

"You're sure this is what they were talking about before they kicked you out?" Alfred asked, Francis clearly not amused at being reminded yet again at being more or less dumped out of the room by the others.

"Exactly, mon ami. I am only out here in the first place because you asked for my help, did you not?" Francis said with irritation in his voice. "Then let me do the talking." He said, ignoring how Alfred grumbled that the hero was the one supposed to take the lead and do the talking and not the 'sidekick'. Francis sighed to keep from smacking the younger nation on the back of the head, trying to calm himself a little more as even he wasn't sure his clever ruse would get the others to open the door long enough to prove that everything was alright. Francis knocked on the door and waited, hearing Ludwig spout out a very clipped and to the blunt pronouncement that no one was to enter this room.

"Germany, it is France." Francis said, shooting a look to Alfred to remind the other boy to keep quiet. "I came to inform you all that this strain is merely a…a _deviant_ of the original that only appears to show the same symptoms. It is easily remedied and even without treatment, runs its course shortly before being expelled from the body." He said, Alfred looking at him incredulously.

"You just pulled that out of your backend, didn't you?" Alfred whispered, Francis pushing him away from the door to keep his voice from carrying to the German who was clearly on guard. Alfred made a mock surrender motion, backing a few steps away.

"Mes amis, check your phones. You have not heard of any outbreak have you? This is why. All is ask is that you merely open the doors and you have my guarantee that neither myself nor Alfred will cross the threshold until you are satisfied with your observations. Or…to borrow a tactic from my American friend, send someone out with enough medical expertise to make a proper diagnosis since I am thinking you would not take anyone's word from this side of the door unless it came from someone who had just left your cozy little setup in there." Francis said, biting his lip as he hoped they took the bait and did one of the things he'd suggested.

"This is stupid. I still think I could've climbed through the vents and pulled a fast one on old Ivan." Alfred said, coming back over to Francis and receiving the same shush and gesture to back up, Alfred resorting to pacing in his boredom. "Hey, I can always bust in if you don-mmpfh….Francis, don't do that mid-word, dude. I could end up bitin' ya and I don't know where those hands have been." Alfred said, Francis sighing as he was sure the younger's voice had carried through the already cracked door. But luckily it seemed that the others were at the very least discussing things among themselves. He smiled in triumph as he heard something similar to what had been done to him, Alfred also recognizing the sounds of a chase going on and laughing a little along with Francis. Feliks' shout clued them into just who they'd decided to send out to make such an assessment, Alfred feeling a little bad for his friend. Toris wasn't exactly a doctor, but his love of literature and therefore vast medical awareness were enough for him to be a suitable choice, made especially so since he'd been hanging around Alfred when 'the plague' had been discovered 'afflicting' him.

"I still can't believe they'd fall for that ridiculous 'medical' BS you just pulled." Alfred said as they took a seat where Matthew had opted to wait while Alfred had gained Francis' company from the conference room.

"Norway and Romania are probably the only ones who might've given any consideration to the explanation 'Arthur waved his wand and it disappeared'" Francis said, making mocking gestures with his hand to mimic waving a wand. "The others would believe a completely implausible medical excuse rather than saying we used magic. I'm still not sure I buy that myself." Francis said, Alfred rolling his eyes although he too wasn't sure he was willing to admit the involvement of any kind of magic. "Anyway, we were discussing how to proceed with trying to determine exact origin of this new outbreak and treatment protocols once it was determined that only Romano appeared to have been afflicted and everyone else could leave the room." At Alfred's questioning look at the mention of the southern Italian, Francis explained what had happened shortly after Arthur had knocked him out.

A rather frightened cry startled them out of their conversation as they waited for Toris to be captured, Francis wincing in sympathy as he recalled his own rather terrifying experience of having Ludwig haul him out into the hallway and away from the apparent safe haven that was the conference room. "Here comes Toris…" Alfred said, getting up out of his chair. "Man, I hope the dude doesn't faint or something. I seriously thought you were gonna…" he began only to receive a glare from Francis that had him laughing at the other's reaction. Sure enough, the doors were quickly flung open and Alfred and Francis watched as a squirming Toris tried to break free of Ivan's deadly grip while Feliks appeared to be held by a couple of other personifications as he tried to come to the Lithuanian man's rescue. Rather than rush in like he desperately wanted, Alfred waited for Toris to be tossed out into the hall, catching the man as he stumbled and the doors were yet again slammed shut behind him.

"Bonjour Lithuania." Francis said jovially, chuckling a little at the other's expense. As it was, Toris was still shaking and looked ready to cry.

"Come on Toris, look." Alfred said, taking his jacket off since he was getting tired of having to fiddle around with the collar so often. And the heat really was making it uncomfortable to continue to wear even though he'd prefer to wear it rather than have to carry it. He stood still as Toris took a few deep breaths before coming closer to Alfred and seeing for himself no more obvious 'symptoms'. To be sure, Toris mumbled out a timid request for Alfred to take off his shirt, the American shooting a look to the Frenchman standing beside him not to say anything as he handed over his jacket. After another minute or two of Toris methodically checking over Alfred, the Lithuanian man's posture relaxed and he announced to the conference room that it really was alright for them to come out. Slowly the doors opened, Ivan and Ludwig still standing as though expecting some sort of sneak attack from the personifications they'd exiled from the room. Alfred did a little twirl for all to see that he was fine before having to fight with Francis to get his shirt back. With that confirmed, Alfred and the other two men quickly stood out of the way as the remaining personifications rushed to get out of the large conference room as quickly as they could to be able to confirm with their own officials that things were all right.

"Ve~ I am so pleased you're going to be alright fratello!" Feliciano's voice rang out as he walked out with his brother, arms still around Romano who was trying to get his younger brother to release him. He shot a pleading look to anyone who'd made eye contact with him, but it didn't appear anything was going to detach Feliciano until the younger Italian was ready to let go. "I was so worried they were all going to try and…and…who knows what they wanted to do to you?" He continued to say, Romano grumbling that he knew _exactly_ what several personifications wanted to do to him before the two disappeared off to wherever Romano was attempting to go with his brother glued to his side.

"Hope you enjoyed being 'in charge' while it lasted Ivan. World's back to normal." Alfred said, patting the other's shoulder in a manner almost sympathetically as he laughed a couple of times.

"Da, but I didn't have to put myself in control Amerika. The others were looking for a strong leader and I was happy to help them." Ivan said with a cheery smile that actually looked more genuine than usual. "I had many wanting to be friends, kol kol kol…" He laughed, Alfred awkwardly patting him a few more times for lack of anything better to do and looking at Ivan like the other man had lost his mind before backing away and letting the Russian go enjoy whatever semblance of world control he'd seemed to have believed he'd had. Ludwig shot him a scrutinizing look as he passed before looking over to Ivan with a sigh and a shake of his head to let Alfred know that Ivan had indeed been enjoying being stuck in that conference room probably a little too much. He gave the American and French personifications a brief remark about being happy to hear them both well before taking off.

"Huh? You're plan actually didn't suck." Alfred said, Francis huffing and shooting a glare to Alfred that the other man clearly didn't let sink in to deter his usual upbeat attitude now that he wasn't being thought of as a literal walking plague. "Good job sidekick" He said, taking his jacket from Francis' hands as he headed off back down the hall to Arthur's room, briefly stopping to speak with Kiku about possibly talking things over more later over drinks. It was an offer Alfred readily agreed to, Francis also making a few suggestions that the Japanese man politely agreed to while internally thinking about very liking doing the complete opposite of before bowing and leaving the two Western nations to their business.

Arriving at Arthur's room, Francis knocked on the door and Matthew answered with a shy smile at seeing them returning so soon. He opened the door wider to let them in, Alfred whistling as he took in the very different state of the room, noticing that Arthur's clothes were not being used as interior designs pieces all over the place. The wood from the bathroom door was stacked up next to the door and Arthur was reclining on the bed, looking very relaxed after all that he'd gone through that day. So much so that Alfred warily approached him, not sure if he was in some sort of trance.

"Good to see you two back so soon." Arthur said, smirking as Alfred jumped at not expecting to be spoken to as Arthur looked so off in thought. "We heard what sounded like a stampede go by and are assuming that meant you were successful?" He asked, Alfred and Francis nodding and receiving a smile from Matthew at the news. "Well then, since that problem is solved and you can see I'm not about to start redecorating again, you all can head off to your own business. I'm fine and will be seeing you all again soon enough." Arthur said, making a shooing motion to get the others to leave. Francis shrugged but did as Arthur asked, leaving and blowing a kiss to the British man. Matthew followed shortly after and Arthur stared at Alfred expectantly, sighing when it became apparent that the American man wasn't leaving.

"You don't actually want to be alone." Alfred said, sitting down in one of the chairs. Arthur cocked and eyebrow and folded his arms over his chest. "Yes, actually I do Alfred. I was pretty clear about that but I suppose I probably should spell it out for you. Please leave me to think this over on my own." Arthur said, sitting down on his bed. "I have embarrassed myself enough today and I would like some privacy if you wouldn't mind." He said, but Alfred shook his head.

"Normally the scares between us only come around Halloween." Alfred said, looking down as he tried to apologize and make sure the other was alright. "I think we scared each other today pretty good, huh? I mean, I had no idea that you'd ever react like that and I wasn't sure how to handle you when you were like that, so….I'm sorry I kinda sucked at being the hero for you today and let you have a nervous breakdown." He said, Arthur letting his head hang as he shook his head.

"You can make it up to me by not saying that to anyone the way you just said it." Arthur said, looking up at Alfred with an exasperated expression. "But like I said, I'm sorry too. I'm even sorrier that you just won't leave me alone Alfred." Arthur said, Alfred pouting at the turn Arthur took in the conversation.

"Aw, come on man. I'm trying to be all deep and stuff and you're not appreciating it. You gotta give me something to work with. I mean, I can carry you literally – I have several times in the past. You know and I know you know 'cuz you do everything _not_ to bring it up - but all that blocked emotional stuff must be what makes you so…." Alfred was saying gesturing vaguely to all of Arthur until he saw the furrow of the other man's brow. "So…so…um…you know, you often told me my face would get stuck like that when I'd make that face. I don't think you'd want that to happen. What would Francis say if he had that sort of material to work with since he already likes to poke at your eyebrows?" He said, Arthur continuing to shoot him the same look.

"Alfred. As _wonderful_ as your therapy session has been, just leave." Arthur said, Alfred responding with a stubborn shake of his head as he crossed his arms. Arthur sighed in frustration, practically sending a growl to the American man he was sure was trying to be a nuisance only for his own displeasure. "I need some time to sort things out on my own. You'll be the first person I call though – does that sound like a plan?" Arthur said in an attempt to bargain with the other man, grasping at the hesitance that briefly showed up on Alfred's face as he thought about what the other said.

"No." Alfred said simply, not making a move to get up. Arthur continued to shoot an intense glare at him, but not having the same capabilities as Ivan in that area and because he was dealing with Alfred, it didn't do much to deter the American personification. "I mean, I wanted to be alone after you made my nightmare come to life and then showed me off covered in toilet water to the rest of the conference. But, and don't tell Francis, he was right that I needed someone to talk to or to just talk to me." Alfred said with a shrug, leaning forward to talk with Arthur. "So…I promise I won't say anything you tell me in this room if you promise to actually be honest with me. That's a much better deal and I'm not gonna leave 'till you say something."

"Then it's not a deal, it's an ultimatum." Arthur corrected the American, Alfred just shrugging again and flashing his smile at him in the hopes that Arthur would just do as he asked. Arthur sighed as he realized that Alfred wasn't going to leave until he got his own way again, resolved to try and be as brief with the other man as possible. But as he talked, he found himself saying more and more than he'd planned and was surprised when Alfred didn't actually interrupt with ridiculous suggestions like trying to avoid dealing with things by scarfing down a hamburger or to distract himself with games of any sort like he'd have expected the more childish personification to say. When he was finished, Alfred occasionally making a remark to encourage him to keep talking or to take a breath to keep calm, Arthur found he was more tired than he thought. Alfred also seemed to pick up on that and politely offered to let Arthur sleep for a while, asking if he thought he'd be up to sharing a few drinks with Kiku and probably a few others who were doing their best to assure themselves that this particular epidemic wasn't mutating to get them all again. Arthur mumbled what he hoped sounded like an affirmative response, Alfred laughing as he left to give the other man the solitude he thought was actually good for him now.

* * *

Things returned to as normal as things usually got for everyone, although there were a few instances where some personifications were still a little jumpy. After all, there were legitimate concerns for other potential world-altering diseases that showed up from time to time in different places that they all had to keep a watch on and try to fix. But there were no more transformations of the conference room into bunkers between different groupings of personifications as they tried to quarantine themselves. Alfred had laughed at the sight of the conference, mentioning about how it would make for a great video game premise or maybe a thriller movie like the Hitchcock film that took place all in one room. As expected, most personifications had done their best to ignore those remarks, not finding the humor in it quite so readily like the American who hadn't been in there.

As the next conference moved along particularly smoothly thanks to it being on Matthew's lands and there not being anything to irk people in particular and Matthew was always a gracious host, Alfred set his next plan in motion. He'd made a promise to himself to save the nasty scares for Halloween, even though it seemed like for whatever reason, Arthur picked up a boost in his abilities to know just how to scare everyone. But that left others open for a few good-natured, harmless pranks to play around with the others. Sitting next to Arthur this time, he elbowed the other man with a completely failing expression of innocence.

Arthur sighed as he turned to face the American. "What are you up to Alfred? I thought after last month, even _you_ would understand the need to keep things steady and, dare I say it, monotonous at this conference." Alfred rolled his eyes but gestured for the other man to look over toward the door. Following his gaze, he saw a balloon perched over it. "No. Alfred, what are you…." Arthur began, lecturing tone and expression in place as he looked back to the younger man.

"Shhh…you're gonna mess it up. It'll be great." Alfred said, cutting off the other man. "In three…two…one…." Alfred said, counting down as he heard someone approach. As he'd expected, Ivan opened the door and the balloon fell on him, bursting and dousing him in a red substance. Ivan stood still, wiping his face of the substance and looking down at the red on his hands. There was a collective gasp at someone doing such a thing to the Russian personification, but they could all tell who would dare even if Alfred hadn't been giggling. Bringing his hand up to his nose to experimentally smell what is was that he was covered in, Ivan's face took on a confused expression.

"Borsht?" Ivan asked, licking his finger to taste for himself. "What?" He asked, wiping his face some more to get what was dripping from his hair out of his face again.

"I figured he deserved a little something for all his efforts to keep everyone feeling so safe in my absence…." Alfred said mockingly, laughing a few more times. "Now he's wearing one of his favorite colors." He said through a smirk, Arthur shaking his head. "Good enough to eat. Ha ha ha." Alfred continued, Natalya snapping to attention now that the shock was over and staring intently at her brother, making Ivan wonder if she really was considering doing just that. Ivan took a step back, knocking the door and nervously smiling to his sister.

"Oh brother, I will tend to you. I always think of you as the most delicious thing in the world." Natalya said, jumping up from her seat to head toward Ivan, the older sibling's eyes widening before taking off through the doorway he'd just come in through. Natalya raced after him professing her desire to be with him as he shouted in terror, Alfred laughing even harder at the spectacle.

"Oh, man…" Alfred said as his laugh tapered off, smiling sincerely at the sight of a frightened Ivan. "I thought I might be able to get Belarus all riled up too. Guess that last comment did the trick, ha ha ha…" Alfred said, looking to Arthur. The British man rolled his eyes, not going to admit that he too found the joke funny enough to have to bite his cheek to keep from laughing. As it was, there were only a few who were just now giving into their laughter now that they were sure the Russian man wasn't near enough to hear them, Francis chuckling as he looked over to Alfred.

"You know he will attempt to retaliate, don't you?" Arthur said, but Alfred just brushed that comment off in his typical unworried manner. He could handle the retaliatory prank he was sure, considering that the two seemed to know each other better than either of them cared to admit.

"Yeah, but you thought it was funny." Alfred said, Arthur taken aback. He was sure that he hadn't been so careless about admitting finding humor in the American's prank, but he smiled as Alfred just patted him on the back before getting up to help clean up the borsht that had accidently splashed onto a few other innocent bystanders. Arthur shook his head at that, which Alfred could see out of the corner of his eye, but it seemed like he felt a little better about making it up to Arthur for setting him and everyone else off in a panic. After all, Alfred did enjoy company and it would be kind of hard to spend time with friends and family if they avoided him like the plague.


End file.
